99 years of history at 780 Valencia, soon to become a Live Fit Gym

The building at 780 Valencia St., most recently home to community art space the Drawing Room, is under construction to be converted into a Live Fit Gym by September.

In the 99 years since its construction, 780 Valencia has lived many lives: As multiple car dealerships and coffee shops, and even a student radio station for the since-shuttered New College of California. The luxury gym, where a monthly membership starts at $107, will be its newest chapter in nearly a century of history.

The Mission’s ‘auto row‘

In October 1924, the Chandler-Cleveland Motor Car Company unveiled its newest automobile showroom at the freshly built 780 Valencia St.

A 1924 San Francisco Examiner article about the opening of 780 Valencia heralded the street as the “second automobile row in the city,” as it joined other dealerships operating out of nearby North Mission addresses. For the next 30 years, cars were sold from 780 Valencia.

In 1948, Charles Raven moved his auto business to the Valencia showroom. He was a socialite and personality in the city, heading the county grand jury the year before his untimely death: A jump from the Golden Gate Bridge in 1953, as reported by the Examiner in June of that year. In 1954, the dealership closed.

A variety of meats and cheeses

Luchetti Choice meats moved in soon after in 1954, marketing bulk meat for families to buy and keep frozen. In its inaugural year, it advertised in the Examiner a stock of “three carload lots” of meat from the “Famed Roberts Ranch” — “personally sampled.” 

But Luchetti soon gave way to the Domestic Cheese Company, a cheese importer and distributor headed by Gilbert Dito. The building was purchased by Dito’s father-in-law, Nikolas Georgatos, in 1961, then sold to him and his wife in 1975. It would stay in the Dito family for another 30 years.

Even after Domestic Cheese left the space, dairy remained the game. It was followed by Daniel’s Creamery, which sold cheese and smoked meats. Daniel’s also operated a small café, the first of many at 780 Valencia.

New College of California and the ‘chop shop‘

In the early aughts, the Dito family began leasing the space to Guido Venezia III, who ran multiple businesses out of the space, including A-1 Underground Powder Coating and a trash and recycling business called Venezia and Sons.

By then, the block was home to New College of California, headquartered in an old church at 777 Valencia St. — now The Chapel, a music and arts venue (which was originally built as a mortuary in 1914). In 2005, they purchased 780 Valencia, where they kept their student radio station. 

Guido Venezia remained in the back of the building, operating what Ashwin Navin, tech founder and the next owner of the building, described as a “motorcycle chop shop.” 

Navin recalled asking a member of the New College what happened in Venezia’s side of the building, opposite the radio station’s walls.

“We don’t know, and we don’t really ask … ” he was told.

New College of California was an alternative college, a place where one could get a Master’s in Activism and Social Change, or a “socially conscious” MBA, according to the Noe Valley Voice in 2007.

“The whole school was kind of rogue,” Navin said.

Navin became interested in the space when he found out about the student radio station. He offered himself as mentor, wanting to create a place where young people’s ideas could flourish — a sort of “826 Valencia … for tech and media and art,” he said, referring to the kids’ writing nonprofit.

When the New College lost its accreditation in 2008, Navin decided he wouldn’t give up on his vision.

A home to community

As New College shuttered in 2008 and began to liquidate its real estate, Navin joined forces with other movers and shakers in digital media to purchase the building. After renovations — including removing the “semi truck”-sized ovens used by the powder coaters — they reopened the space as a café and co-working hub in 2010.

The Summit restaurant took up one half of the building, leaving the other half to be used as a membership co-working space. Artists — including Carlos Santana album cover artist Michael Rio — showed and sold their work in a gallery in the back, where they often hosted events. 

“Whether it was acoustic music or industry dinners, it was just a high energy creative group of people,” Navin said.

In the co-working space, techies could meet and work on their projects, one of which was encrypted messaging app Signal, says Navin. And for four months of the year, burgeoning tech founders were mentored in the space as part of i/o ventures, an incubator run by Navin, among others.

After less than two years in business, the Summit shut down, to be replaced by 780 Cafe, run by the then-property manager of 780 Valencia and past employee of New College, Jose Ramos. Not long after, the new cafe and the co-working space both shut down.

“We didn’t really care about the money, as much,” said Navin, saying they focused more on curating a community. “Sort of like the way that New College operated. I guess we were just inspired by that.” 

For the next eight years, the space was leased to BetaBrand, an online retailer opening its flagship brick-and-mortar in the Mission. In 2020, Navin’s company sold the building to Baskin Investment Group. Soon after the pandemic hit, BetaBrand filed for bankruptcy and left.

A dormant space reawakened

As in-person retail slowed citywide, the space remained empty for months. 

Renee DeCarlo started the Drawing Room as an “open studio” — half artist studio, half gallery — on 23rd Street in 2018. Right before the pandemic, she made a deal with the owner of an empty storefront on Mission Street to lease the space to her for $1 a month. The idea was that she could operate an art gallery, attracting attention and traffic to the building, until the owner could find a more permanent tenant. They continued to host limited events during the pandemic.

DeCarlo met a representative of Baskin Investment Properties, and they realized a similar arrangement could revitalize the long-dormant 780 Valencia. For $350 a month, she could turn the building into a hub for arts in the Mission, with space for a gallery and artist studios, called the Drawing Room: Annex.

“It was so generous of them to take the leap of faith and hand me the keys,” DeCarlo said.

DeCarlo described how the Drawing Room became a “connecting point” for arts in the neighborhood. DeCarlo said their vibrant window and sidewalk art installations suffered no vandalism, which she attributes to the gallery’s openness and inclusivity. Their shows welcomed artists of all ages and experience levels, even showcasing the work of high-school students. And, on the weekends, the Drawing Room paid musicians from the community to play free shows for the public.

With the space reactivated, the owners felt they had to raise the rent, though offered to continue renting it to the Drawing Room below market rates. DeCarlo says the community rallied to fund the cost of the space, but despite selling around $100,000 in art in their first two shows, they ultimately couldn’t afford to keep it open. The Drawing Room cleared out by May. They’ve since moved to a much smaller storefront on Clement Street in the Inner Richmond.

Now, construction is underway to transform the building into a Live Fit Gym. DeCarlo regrets losing the space, but is grateful for the time the Drawing Room had. 

Live Fit Gym owner Milton O’Brien says the new branch, set to by open by September, will replace their previous Mission location at 675 Valencia St., which they are beginning to outgrow.

“It will be the nicest exercise facility on Valencia,” he said.